Skip to main content

Using Computer Technology to Support Clinical Decision-Making

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Clinical Health Psychology in Military and Veteran Settings
  • 148 Accesses

Abstract

Computer-based information technology is used to help diverse groups of healthcare professionals coordinate the physical and mental healthcare of patients. Clinicians use this technology to describe, summarize, analyze, and understand a patient’s progress. Patients use this technology to gather data about their condition, look at trends, and participate more actively in their care. At the center of this technology is the data stored for each patient – the electronic health record. This chapter explains the data that are currently used to coordinate integrated healthcare and how that data are used to both support daily clinical decision-making and inform future research into best practices for care. Researchers are dependent on the accuracy of the data gathered through electronic health records and rely on clinicians to make the best choices for the design and capture of that data. Information technology changes rapidly, and clinicians who understand and make best use of it can help ensure that future technology changes will support their personal decision-making, help patients, create credible research, and move the practice of psychology forward.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The term “healthcare professional” is used generally in this chapter to represent people such as physicians, nurses, and clinical psychologists. More specifically, using the definitions provided by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (referred to as “ONC”) (ONC, 2015), the term “physician” is used to reference an individual with an MD, and “practitioner” includes such healthcare professionals as physician assistant, clinical psychologist, registered dietician, etc. As per the ONC, the term “healthcare provider organization” or “healthcare provider” represents an organization (rather than an individual person) such as a hospital, skilled nursing facility, home health entity, community mental health center, or ambulatory surgical center.

  2. 2.

    EHR systems are available in various formats. It is possible to purchase or lease an EHR system from a vendor and run it on an organization’s computers. It is also possible to run an EHR system via a cloud-based application or as a service from an EHR vendor. Pricing for EHR systems varies depending on the format, the complexity of the application program systems that are incorporated in the EHR, the number of other systems to which it must interface, and sometimes the number of healthcare professionals using the system.

  3. 3.

    A DRG is a system to classify patient cases in a hospital into pre-defined groups to identify the products that are provided by a hospital (HMSA, 2018).

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dana Edberg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Edberg, D. (2022). Using Computer Technology to Support Clinical Decision-Making. In: James, L.C., O’Donohue, W., Wendel, J. (eds) Clinical Health Psychology in Military and Veteran Settings. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12063-3_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics